FRIENDS FOREVER: A Collection of FRIENDS Short Stories
by WritingIsMyDrugOfChoice
Summary: This is a collection of FRIENDS short stories in memory of my mother who passed.
1. Summaries

**AUTHOR NOTE** : This collection of stories is dedicated to the memory of my mother who passed away. She loved this show and we watched it together all the time.

 **1\. The One That Should Have Been:** Phoebe still reeling from the death of her husband Mike surrounds herself and her daughter with her friends. Will she find love again? (If your not a shipping fan you may ant to avoid this one)

What is so impprtant that Ben needs to speak with his father?


	2. 1 The One That Should Have Been

**AUTHOR NOTE:** I know this story may not be very good, but I wrote it and will write more in honor of my mother who has passed away. We both loved the show. Now if you don't like the ship Phoey or character death (none of the main six characters) then you may want to aviod this story.

Central perk is the best coffee house in New York City. Four friends sit around their old table in the cafe. Some of them haven't been in the cafe since Monica and Chandler moved to Westchester County. Monica watched as Erica and Jack (who are now thirteen) were sitting at another table talking to Ross and Rachel's daughter Emma (now fifteen). Usually, the group of friends would be laughing or talking about various topics, but this reunion was a bit of a sad one.

The friends quietly sipped their coffee as they waited for Phoebe and her daughter to arrive. They knew they were gonna have to be there for her. None of them could imagine what she's going through.

"You guys think she's ok?" Rachel asked.

"How could she be? Monica wondered, "her husband just died".

"I can't imagine what she must be going through," Rachel said, "to wake up and find your spouse died in their sleep,".

"At least he went peacefully," Monica said.

"Hey, where's Joey?" Ross said handing Rachel the coffee he ordered for her.

"He's on a flight here now," Chandler said, "He had to finish filming the next few episodes of Willow Brook,".

"It's so weird to know he's finally found a show that works for him," Rachel said. Just then Phoebe walked in. She looked so tired. Her eyes were red and had dark bags under them. Her daughter Lyric followed behind her. Her brown eyes showed so much sadness. Her black hair was in a french braid. She hugged a pink and white stuffed elephant to herself. They all greeted her and the little girl before sitting beside Phoebe on the orange couch.

"How ya holdin up sweetie?" Rachel asked.

"It's still not real to me," she said, "It's been a week and I still can't fathom that the love of my life is gone,". She grabbed a tissue to wipe her eyes and Monica hugged her.

"Can we get anything for you Pheebs?" Ross asked, "coffee or something?".

"We actually haven't eaten since this morning," she said.

"We'll all go out someplace nice for dinner then," Monica said, "and since Emma is watching the twins she can watch Lyric too and we'll let them order pizza,".

"Ok, but for now I'll take a blueberry muffin," she said, "and a chocolate scone for Lyric,". Ross nodded and headed off to order. They sat and talked for a while as Phoebe and Lyric ate. "Well we better head to our place so we can all get ready," Rachel said, "I'll just let Emma know she's watching Lyric too,". She headed over to their table.

Just then Ben walked in. His now brown hair combed back and his brown eyes seemed to have a hint of worry to them. "Hey dad," he greeted as he spotted his father, "can we talk for a minute?".

"Well I can't talk right now Ben," Ross said, "we're gonna take Aunt Phoebe out to dinner,".

"Yeah we better get goin," Monica said.

"We really need to talk dad," Ben said.

"We will later," Ross said as they all headed out of the cafe. Ben sighed as he watched them leave.

"Still haven't told him huh?" he heard a familiar voice say. He turned to see Chandler Buffay standing there. She was dressed in a little purple and black dress with a matching coat and a long white scarf around her neck.

"I plan to," he said, "not sure how,".

"Well we need to talk too," she said sitting down on the orange couch.

"Not now Chandler," he said.

"Hey you helped bake this bun in my oven you're gonna help raise it," she informed him.

"I wouldn't just leave you to raise a baby alone," he said, "let me get you a coffee and we'll talk,".

"Deal," she said as he headed to the counter.

Back at Ross and Rachel's apartment, everyone was cleaning up for dinner. "Ok Emma lets go over the rules," Rachel said.

"Mom I know, " she started, "no friends over, no boys, emergency numbers on the fridge, no scary movies for Jack because of his nightmares, and make sure Erica reads some of her book for school,".

"Good," Rachel said as Ross walked out of their bedroom.

"Did you remember no boys?" he asked Rachel.

"Yes Ross, she knows," Rachel said grabbing her purse.

"Also Emma when your order the pizzas neither Jack or Erica like sausage or olives," Monica said as there was a knock on the door. Monica opened the door and there stood Joey.

"Hey Joey," she greeted as they hugged.

"Don't you look sharp," Chandler said noticing the grey suit he was wearing.

"I figured we'd be going to dinner with Pheebs so I wanted to look nice," he said.

"And you do," she said as they hugged.

"Ok, we better get goin," Rachel said as they headed out the door. At dinner, the six friends talked about memories of Mike and Phoebe.

"So joey's date left when he couldn't remember her name?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, but me and Mike hit it off," Phoebe said.

"Was it true you went to a karaoke event he played piano for and your boobs could be seen through your shirt?" Rachel asked looking at Monica.

"It would have nice had they told me," Monica said.

"Oh please," Phoebe said, "Chandler told you and you pushed him out of the way and continued singing,".

"That is true," Chandler said as Monica rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me," Phoebe said standing up, "I'm gonna call and check up on Lyric,". She said and headed toward the phone area.

"She seems to be handling it ok," Rachel said.

"She has sorta always been the strong one,". Monica said.

"She reminds a lot of Lizzie Rosen, a character on the show," Joey said.

"Isn't she the character that went crazy after her husband died in a car crash?" Monica asked.

"Yes," Joey answered, "that's why she came to Willow Brook. So she could heal,".

"It's hard to believe you went from hot Doctor Drake Ramoray to Therapist Luke Gray," Rachel said.

"I actually like Luke a little more," Joey said, "he gets to bond more with his patients then Drake did,".

"The storyline in season two when you helped that teen girl even made Chandler tear up," Monica told him.

"Hey that teen was pregnant and addicted to pills," Chandler argued, "and Luke's speech to help her was beyond heartfelt,".

"Shouldn't Pheebs be back by now?" Ross asked.

"I'll go check on her," Joey volunteered and got up to go look for her. When he reached the phone he looked out the window of the restaurant and saw Phoebe sitting on a stone bench outside. He walked out there and sat beside her. "You ok Pheebs?" he asked.

"I just needed some air," she said wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Pheebs, it's ok not to be ok," Joey said sitting down beside her.

"How can I be ok Joey?" she asked standing up walking around, "the love of my life the father of my child is dead. How will I ever be ok?".

"Pheebs, I can't imagine the pain your going through," Joey started, "and yes you'll always miss Mike. Lyric will always miss Mike, but the pain will ease in time,".

"You wanna know the most selfish part?" she asked, "I'm supposed to be grieving. You should always mourn the loss of your true love, but I keep thinking. Was Mike really my true love? Will I fall in love again?".

"Pheebs, sometimes yeah those who have lost the one they love do find love again," Joey said, "but if you do you shouldn't feel bad about it. Mike would want you to be happy right?".

"Even if he did how do I know I even have someone else out there," Phoebe said.

"Cause I've been here the whole time," Joey said. Phoebe just stared at him for a moment before Joey walked over to her. He caressed her cheek and before she knew it their lips met.

Later that night at Ross and Rachel's apartment Phoebe told them what happened. "It does make sense," Monica said, "I mean for as long as I can remember their always little flirty moments between you two,".

"Well I say take it slow and see how it goes," Chandler suggested.

"How am I gonna tell Lyric?" Phoebe asked.

"You don't have to tell her anything until you know for sure you and Joey are gonna work as a couple," Monica explained.

"Hey maybe we could all triple date sometime," Ross joked.

"Well I'm heading to bed now," Emma said getting up from her chair just as Ben entered the apartment.

"Dad there's no easy way to say this," he started, "I knocked up Chandler,".

"Or maybe I'll stay up a little longer," Emma said as she sat back down.


End file.
